The Fifth Element
by meninwhite
Summary: Katara's husdband has passed away and now she trains the new Avatar.
1. Chapter 1

The Fifth Element

No mine this is by Karen at Avatar site.

_Water, earth, fire, air…_

Finally, Fire Lord Ozai and Sozens Comet are defeated and the century long war between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world is over.

It was all thanks to my husband, Aang, the long lost Avatar and one of the last of the Air Nomads.

My home, the Southern Water Tribe, is being rebuilt thanks to the help of our Northern sister tribe, and Aang, my brother, Sokka, and I have returned there to live peacefully with our family.

But the Fire Nation would strike again, this time in the form of the banished Princess Azula who was still at war with her brother, the new Fire Lord Zuko, over the throne.

Now, with my husband passed on due to terrible illness and the Fire Nation divided in another impending war, we can only hope and pray that the Avatar will return once again to save the world…

Prologue

Death

The sun had nearly finished lowering itself into the icy waters of the South Pole… The brilliant colors of the arctic sunset gradually began to fade into an indigo night sky and the first star, nutjuitok,(1) appeared…

"How is he," nineteen-year-old Katara, Cheiftess and co-leader of the Southern Water Tribe, pleaded to the group of village healers coming out of the main medical tent.

It had all happened so fast and she was still in shock. Not even a year after their wedding and Aang had taken horribly ill. Her young seventeen-year-old husband had grown paler and thinner, and his normally large appetite was failing. Often he would collapse in fits of coughing and wheezing.

At first, Katara, Sokka and the others had thought the illness had been due to his exposure to the frozen conditions of the South Pole and the arctic, but now they and the healers were suspecting that it was something far more serious…

Aang had been in the healers tents all day and now Katara was near frantic with worry…

The oldest healer shook her head, a saddened expression on her wizened face.

"I'm sorry," the elderly woman answered, "but he's not getting any better. There's nothing that can be done."

Tears rimmed in the young womans eyes, and she put a hand to her mouth.

"No!."

"I'm afraid not even water-healing can cure this. The tribal priests say it's due to his taking up his Avatar duties so early, far earlier then he was meant to."

Katara's heart sank as she realized what they meant. Her grandmother had told her that all Avatars start learning how to bend all four elements at the age of sixteen, but Aang had told her that the senior monks of the Southern Air Temple had insisted he begin his training at only twelve.

"So… So this means…" the Waterbending masters voice trailed off…

The old womans heart went out to Katara. Poor girl, to lose her young husband so soon!. True, Avatar Aang was technically over one hundred, but most of those years had been spent in suspended animation. He had never gotten the chance to live and grow old with his loved ones!.

"Yes," she answered softly. "Unfortunately, because of the war, the Airbender monks pushed him into early training. He was in the Avatar state so many times before he was the proper age in which his body was ready to handle it."

The young Cheiftess took a deep breath before she trusted herself to speak without sobbing.

"May I see him?. Please?."

"Of course," the elderly healer agreed kindly, and her assistants nodded in sympathy.

How tragic that the world was going to lose yet another Avatar, especially with the growing unrest in the Fire Nation…

Katara quietly entered the tent to see her beloved Aang laying on his bed of felt, furs and skins… Surrounding him were all the medicines, foods and charms the healers were using to try at least to keep him comfortable…

In spite of her grief, the young woman had to smile as she remembered how humorously difficult it had been for her vegetarian husband to get used to the meats, skins and furs of the Water Tribe. "Nothing homier then a roomful of dead animals" he would remark jokingly.

The young Waterbending cheiftess softly knelt by Aang, then she took the nearby cold, damp washcloth and began to gently run it down his forehead, face and neck… Even though he was pale and shivering, his fever was high and his skin burning hot to the touch…

Slowly, the young seventeen year old Avatars eyes flickered open… Seeing his dearly loved wife, he gave her a big warm smile.

"I had a dream about us just now," he said.

Katara forced herself to smile back through her tears as she ran the cloth over his forehead again.

"Really?. What was it about?."

Aang closed his eyes for a moment and gave a contented sigh.

"It was about the day we met," he answered. "Do you remember when you found me in that iceberg?. Your face was the first thing I saw when I woke up."

"I remember…" Katara whispered. Ever since he had asked her to marry him, Aang had told her he had loved her since the first time he saw her when he was a naïve, impetuous child of twelve… She herself had been fourteen, a girl on the verge of womanhood, and had only thought of Aang as a little brother or a son in the beginning… that is, until she realized that the child Avatar, her little Waterbending pupil, was growing into a man before her eyes…

Still smiling, Aang took her hand…

"I'm just glad that I get to see your face one more time before I join the spirits."

This was to much for Katara!. She had already lost her mother, her grandparents, her father!. Why must she lose her beloved husband now too?.

"Aang, no," she cried, throwing her arms around him, her tears soaking his shirt. "Please! Please don't leave!. The world can't afford to lose you and neither can I!."

Her husbands tattooed hand gently caressed her cheek…

"It's okay, Katara," Aang tried to reassure her. "I'm the Avatar. I've had countless past-lives. This is nothing I haven't done a million times already."

As he spoke, his hand grew limp and slowly fell to his side… His eyes began to close for the last time…

"I will always be with you, Katara," Aang murmured before he was taken to join Avatar Roku, Avatar Kyoshi, and all the numerous Avatars of the past. "Always… I promise…"

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Avatar Aang, the last known Airbender, was taken to the remains of the Southern Air Temple where he was born and had spent his earlier years… There he was buried at a secret place in a private ceremony by his wife and Waterbending teacher, Katara, his brother-in-law and Atanerk(2) of the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka, as well as his dear friend and Earthbending teacher, General Toph Bei Fong…

A statue of Avatar Aang was placed next to the one of Avatar Roku in every temple sanctuary within the Four Nations… Not only his friends and loved ones, but the whole world felt the loss of Aang and grieved for him…

It was only a few days, less then a week, after returning from the funeral ceremony that Cheiftess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe discovered that she was pregnant with her late husbands child…


	2. Birth

Birth

_She was a young girl again, and she and Aang were penguin sledding just like they used to do. They laughed and hollered for joy as they raced through icy caverns and tunnels and flew over the snowy hills!. _

Suddenly, everything changed and she was back in the ruins of the Southern Air Temple sanctuary, gazing at the statues of all the millions of past Avatars…

Then, to her astonishment, it was not statues she was looking at, but all the past Avatars themselves!. Avatar Kyoshi, Avatar Roku, and a joyous smile spread across her face as she recognized the newest Avatar!.

"Aang," she cried, shedding tears of happiness. She rushed to embrace her husband and threw her arms around his neck.

This wouldn't be like the time she had thought she'd seen her mother in The Swamp and had been cruelly disappointed when it had turned out to be only an illusion. This was really Aang and he was really and truly here!. 

"Aang! I've missed you so much!. I can't believe you've come back!."

To her surprise, her husband withdrew from the embrace and held her gently at arms length, a calm, warm smile on her face as he gazed at her lovingly.

Tears of joy continued to stream down Kataras face.

"Aang," she smiled back. Why did he not reply?. "Aang, I love you so much!. I can't wait until we have our baby!. I can't wait for us to be parents!."

In response, Avatar Aang lovingly placed a hand to his wifes abdomen where his unborn child was growing inside… Then he drew Katara closer to him and placed a soft kiss on her lips…

Slowly, Kataras eyes fluttered open, and she became aware of her surroundings… She was in her families igloo, comfortable in her bed of warm, soft bear fur and sealskins, and several familiar, beloved faces were watching over her…

"Katara," Chief Sokka exclaimed in relief, taking his little sisters hand. "How are you feeling?." She had gone into labor earlier then expected and everyone had been anxious and worried, him most of all.

The young cheiftess squeezed her big brothers hand warmly.

"I'm alright." She gave him a reassuring smile as she recalled her dream about Aang. Then her hand went to her abdomen which now ached with a dull, empty feeling… "The baby?…"

Sokka and the group of healers looked at eachother and smiled.

"Congratulations, sis. You've got a daughter!."

Kataras blue eyes lit up!.

"I have a daughter," she exclaimed with excitement.

"Mmm hmm, you've made me an uncle before my time," her brother joked affectionately.

"That's right, Miss Waterbending Master," came a familiar, friendly voice nearby. "And there's someone I think you should meet."

Kneeling on the other side of Kataras bed was one of their oldest friends, General Toph Bei Fong. Though born blind, she was now one of the wealthiest, most powerful Earthbending masters of the Earth Kingdom. In her arms she held a tiny bundle wrapped in warm soft polar bear furs.

Katara reached out and gingerly took her new baby daughter into her arms.

A delicate, pale face with a tuft of silky brown hair peered out at her from beneath the fur blankets and Katara breathed in awe when those tiny eyes opened… They were Aangs eyes, gray and clear as rain…

"Nutaralak," she whispered. "Pitsiark nutaralak niviasar."(1)

The baby girl cooed and moved her tiny arms upon hearing her mothers' voice.

Katara offered her new daughter her finger and the baby grasped it tightly.

'Oh yes, Anernerk,"(2) the new mother crooned, leaning down to kiss the babies forehead. "You know your anana,(3) don't you?."

In response, the new baby cooed again and giggled, and everybody laughed.

The cooing and giggling soon turned to cries of hunger however, and Katara brought her daughter to her breast to nurse while Sokka, Toph and the healer midwives watched in awe.

The young cheiftess gazed down lovingly at the baby girl who was now nursing contently.

"This is incredible," she beamed, a single tear of joy running down her cheek. "I can't believe Mom actually did this twice!."

"Oh, come on," her older brother scoffed good-naturdly. "That didn't seem like anything so special. Women do it all the time."

That earned him a sharp thwack to the back of the head from Toph!.

"Hah! Yeah right, Mister Macho," General Bei Fong shot back with a cynical grin. "When you men start giving birth then you can talk!."

Sheepishly, Atanerk Sokka, leader of the Southern Water Tribe rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he muttered with a rueful smile. "So, what are you going to name her, Katara?."

The new mother looked down lovingly at her baby, who by now had finished nursing and had drifted off soundly to sleep.

"Akasha,"(4) she answered decisively. "I've been thinking about it, and I decided I wanted my child to be reminded that she's the daughter of Avatar Aang."

Sokka nodded thoughtfully. Hard to believe, in the beginning when he'd first met Aang he didn't trust the guy as far as he could throw him. Now, he was proud and honored to be Avatar Aangs brother-in-law and baby Akashas uncle.

"Do you think there's a chance little Akasha might be the next Avatar," asked one of the younger healers who was now making a warm medicinal tea for Katara.

At this, the other healers were silent and Sokka and Toph turned to eachother worriedly…

The young cheiftess frowned and closed her eyes for a minute…

"I don't know," she finally answered quietly as she cradled Akasha a little closer to her "but I hope not."

Poor Aangs life had never been the same once the monks of the Southern Air Temple had told him he was the Avatar, four years before he was supposed to find out because of the impending war. His friends had excluded him from their play and his teachers had constantly pressured him to study and train, denying him a normal youth. Then, a century later, after he had met Sokka and Katara his life had been anything but normal or safe with the Fire Nation hunting him down like he was some kind of prize and the weight of the entire world on his young shoulders. Katara didn't want that for their daughter.

"It would be a great honor," the elder healer said as she arranged the young cheiftess' pillows and blankets so mother and baby would be more comfortable, "And with the Fire Nation at war with itself, the world may need the Avatars help again."

"Let the Ikkuma(5) handle their own disputes," Atanerk Sokka stated firmly, placing a protective hand on his little sisters shoulder.

"Yes," Katara added with an assertive nod. "Whatever problems Fire Lord Zuko has with his sister, he hasn't involved the other Nations in it so far. Please, let's not involve my newborn daughter."

The elderly woman healer sighed. She understood a mothers love for their children and their need to protect them, but Imiq(6) sages and healers were taught that each person had a destiny and that they could not deny or avoid it, especially if that persons destiny was to maintain balance between the four elements that kept the very world together.

"But according to the cycle the next Avatar will be of the Water Tribes. The Atanerk of the Northern Imiq has ordered the sages to perform the test on each child of our Nation born after Avatar Aangs death. If it is proved that Akasha is the next Avatar, you must try to accept it."

Katara once again gazed down at her soundly sleeping baby… She hated being reminded of her husbands death, she hated the thought of the Fire Nation hunting precious little Akasha down as they had hunted her father, and she couldn't imagine her nutaralak, someday having the power to control all four elements, her eyes glowing eerily, and wiping out entire Fire Nation fleets as Aang had once done…

But perhaps there was really nothing to fear... Perhaps Akasha was not the next Avatar and someone else would have the burden of keeping the balance of the world, while her daughter was allowed to live a normal, happy life here at the South Pole…

"If it comes to that… If it does, then I'll try to accept it…" she finally said, praying silently that she would not come to regret those words…

Still, it would be a few years before she had to worry about the possibility that she may have to share her child with the rest of the world, Katara reassured herself. For now, Akasha belonged only to her, her and the Southern Imiq.

_Still now and hear my singing  
Sleep through the night my darling.  
We have a tiny daughter,  
Thanks be to God who sent her.  
Though she as yet knows nothing,  
She is so sweet, I am singing. _

(Inuit Lullaby)


End file.
